Free Republic

Satellite navigation system maker TomTom indirectly sells details of motorists’ driving behaviour to the police for use in determining where speed traps should be placed, the AD reports on Wednesday. Almost half the country’s police forces use this method of deciding where to put cameras and speed checks, the paper says. The company’s terms and conditions make it clear that information gleaned from the sat nav systems can be sold to other companies. TomTom sells the information to an intermediary which in turn sells it on to the police. A spokesman for TomTom told the Telegraaf the company was unaware...

An American couple who relied on their SUV's navigation system to guide them through the high desert in the state of Oregon got stuck in snow for three days when the GPS unit sent them down a remote forest road. On Sunday, atmospheric conditions apparently changed enough for their GPS-enabled mobile phone to get a weak signal and relay co-ordinates to a dispatcher, Klamath County Sheriff Tim Evinger said. "GPS almost did 'em in and GPS saved 'em," Evinger said. "It will give you options to pick the shortest route. You certainly get the shortest route. But it may not...

Search giant Google Australia is continuing to add features to its Google Maps tool, launching a tool that allows users to monitor traffic flows in major cities and uses crowd-sourcing data on which the service relies. Information on Google Maps displays the current traffic status of many motorways, major and minor arterial routes in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, and smaller areas like Wollongong, the Central Coast, Geelong, the Sunshine Coast and the Gold Coast. When the "traffic" function is turned on, roads are marked with a coloured line indicating whether traffic flow is fast (a green line), medium (yellow), heavy (red)...

German driver's car directs him into toilet 23 October 2006 BERLIN: A German motorist followed the command "Turn right now" from his navigation system and crashed into a small toilet hut by the side of the road - about 30 metres before the crossing he was meant to take. The overly obedient 53-year-old from Freiburg drove his sport utility vehicle off the road onto into a building site, up a stairway and into the small toilet shack, police in the eastern town of Rudolstadt said on Sunday. It caused 2000 euros ($NZ3843) worth of damage to the stairway, 100 euros...